This background section is provided for the purpose of generally describing the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventor(s), to the extent the work is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description that may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art against the present disclosure.
In a contact center environment, a call should only be transferred to an agent if the agent is actually present, and ready to take the call. A major issue with contact centers is the problem of “dead calls” where an in-progress call is transferred to an agent who is unavailable. In some jurisdictions, legal sanctions may be applied to a call center for having a large number of dead calls.
Some conventional approaches for detecting whether an agent is available involve determining whether the agent is logged into his or her call station. However, these approaches fail to account for an agent that is logged in, but has stepped away from the call station.
Other conventional approaches involve detecting the presence of the agent's headset. For wired headsets, these approaches generally involve some form of electrical test to determine whether the headset is plugged into the agent's call station. For wireless headsets, these approaches generally involve detecting a wireless connection to the headset. However, these approaches fail to account for an agent that has removed his or her headset.